Axelrod And The White Working Class
Yesterday, Axelrod down played the role of the white working class vote.
Axelrod said the problem is older voters. Maybe he means older white working class voters? I don't know.
Whatever he meant, it seems that he has his facts wrong. It is true that Democratic candidates don't rely solely on those votes. But it is also true that the last Democratic candidate to win the White House did win the white working class vote.
Again, Ben Smith points to this article:
“The white working class has gone to the Republican nominee for many elections, going back even to the Clinton years. This is not new that Democratic candidates don’t rely solely on those votes," he says.
Axelrod said the problem is older voters. Maybe he means older white working class voters? I don't know.
Whatever he meant, it seems that he has his facts wrong. It is true that Democratic candidates don't rely solely on those votes. But it is also true that the last Democratic candidate to win the White House did win the white working class vote.
Again, Ben Smith points to this article:
John Halpin and Ruy Teixeira:"Keep in mind that Bill Clinton actually carried white working-class voters in both his successful presidential campaigns (by a single percentage point in both instances)," they write.
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It just seems like a stupid thing to say in the aftermath of bittergate.
April 24, 2008 11:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, I think it is stupid and misleading.
April 24, 2008 11:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Definitely stupid. But at least he didn't say "Screw 'em."
April 24, 2008 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
The "screw em" comment has not been proven. Its all circumstantial.
But even if she did say it, she didn't say it on NPR radio. I understand that Axelrod's comment was more measured, but I think he measured wrong.
April 24, 2008 11:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm glad you wrote about this. The Obama campaign has been relatively disciplined so far in at least not making too many of these types of mistakes. This one was troublesome to me. I certainly hope the candidate himself, and henceforth his campaign manager, feel it is important to compete for this vote, not write it off or dismiss its importance for the candidate's chances for success.
On another note, I am also bothered that Obama seems to lapse into the political prognosticator mode sometimes of late. It was E.J. Dionne, Jr., I think, who in a column within the past couple of weeks made the point that this is a basic mistake candidates need to avoid making.
April 24, 2008 11:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Might I also add that during Bill's first election he had the fortune of Perot nabbing some of these voters away from Bush. We cannot afford to lose this vote.
It goes actually to the heart of what I thought Obama was trying to become. Wasn't he supposed to be able to explain our positions to these voters effectively and get them to stop voting wedge issues? This was such a strange comment from his campaign. Disheartening.
April 24, 2008 11:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Perot definitely helped Clinton's first run. I wonder if someone will step into the race to help Obama if he is the nominee.
April 24, 2008 11:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is part of a pattern of Obama's and his campaign's elitism.
April 24, 2008 11:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
I am a great fan of Sen Obama, but I have only slightly more respect for David Axelrod than I have for Mark Penn, which is to say very little. I agree that his remarks are stupid and did Sen Obama no great favors. Here's hoping that he is kept away from microphones over the next seven months.
April 24, 2008 11:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
What this helps show is that not only is Obama racist in his worldview, but his campaign staff is as well. How in the world do they really think they can win without 'typical White people', 'White working class', and seniors?!
While it is getting very old to see everyone insist on breaking things down into racial groups, often dissing them as Obama and his campaign do, it also shows increasingly clear why he can't win and is setting the Democratic Party up for an embarrassing defeat in the fall. One well deserved if they nominate Obama.
Matthew
http://www.TheIndependentView.com
April 24, 2008 12:13 PM | Reply | Permalink